Different church though!
You may not believe this but several years ago Roo and I were friends with a Church pastor and his spouse. They were very kind, caring people, and if I seen them today I would still happily spend an evening with them. Our friendship kind of quietly dwindled away, I think primarily because they were sure we were going to hell, and we were sure we weren't!
What does that have to do with taking my bike to church you may ask? Well I'm gonna tell you! You see they once asked us to attend a marriage retreat that they were running, and although it was faith based, we thought we would give it a shot. They assured us that we weren't gonna be preached to.
Regardless, every other couple there (must have been 25 or 30) were avid Christians, and as such they assumed that we were as well. At dinner time they would sit us in groups of 4-5 couples to a table, and inevitably conversation would come around to religion. One evening a guy posed a question to the rest of the group as to what church they belonged to, and although we had nicely managed to fit in up til that point, there wasn't really a way to avoid the reality of the fact that neither Roo or had been inside any kind of church since the day we were married. After hearing about "redeemer" this, and "faith" that, it came to our turn. Roo looked at me. I looked at Roo. The other 4 couples looked at both of us.....
And you would have been proud of me. I could have said, we don't belong to any church. I could have said, I think you people are all bananas. I could have even made something up!
Well, I guess I did really. With a totally straight face, I looked around at everyone at the table, and told them that we belong to The Church of the Great Outdoors.
Not a word from anyone. Just silence. It was a beautiful moment.
Ever since then Roo and I have faithfully attended our church, and will continue to do so until the day we meet our maker. I think he lives somewhere in Algonquin Park!
So that's the church I took my bike to today.
Unfortunately it was a very hot day, hotter than hell I guess you could say, and I let myself get a bit dehydrated. :)
Like my guy? I named him Jesus, cause he's solid, unpretentious, non judgmental, and he belongs to the same church as me.
...and yes indeed. My church is never, ever boring. How many people can say that?
"I am unboreable in the great outdoors."---P. J. O'Rourke
You may not believe this but several years ago Roo and I were friends with a Church pastor and his spouse. They were very kind, caring people, and if I seen them today I would still happily spend an evening with them. Our friendship kind of quietly dwindled away, I think primarily because they were sure we were going to hell, and we were sure we weren't!
What does that have to do with taking my bike to church you may ask? Well I'm gonna tell you! You see they once asked us to attend a marriage retreat that they were running, and although it was faith based, we thought we would give it a shot. They assured us that we weren't gonna be preached to.
Regardless, every other couple there (must have been 25 or 30) were avid Christians, and as such they assumed that we were as well. At dinner time they would sit us in groups of 4-5 couples to a table, and inevitably conversation would come around to religion. One evening a guy posed a question to the rest of the group as to what church they belonged to, and although we had nicely managed to fit in up til that point, there wasn't really a way to avoid the reality of the fact that neither Roo or had been inside any kind of church since the day we were married. After hearing about "redeemer" this, and "faith" that, it came to our turn. Roo looked at me. I looked at Roo. The other 4 couples looked at both of us.....
And you would have been proud of me. I could have said, we don't belong to any church. I could have said, I think you people are all bananas. I could have even made something up!
Well, I guess I did really. With a totally straight face, I looked around at everyone at the table, and told them that we belong to The Church of the Great Outdoors.
Not a word from anyone. Just silence. It was a beautiful moment.
Ever since then Roo and I have faithfully attended our church, and will continue to do so until the day we meet our maker. I think he lives somewhere in Algonquin Park!
So that's the church I took my bike to today.
Unfortunately it was a very hot day, hotter than hell I guess you could say, and I let myself get a bit dehydrated. :)
Like my guy? I named him Jesus, cause he's solid, unpretentious, non judgmental, and he belongs to the same church as me.
...and yes indeed. My church is never, ever boring. How many people can say that?
"I am unboreable in the great outdoors."---P. J. O'Rourke
Love
Peter
I find you very funny Pete. :) I really enjoy reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved that you and mum say you belong to the Church of the Great Outdoors -- I had no idea that is how it originated!! That makes me love it even more. Love you lots!
ReplyDeleteMichael
I am enjoying your vacation!
ReplyDeleteLove holij
A bit late, but here nonetheless. Love this post!!
ReplyDeleteLove, gail